Wenceslaus Hollar,
Winter, an
etching

Czech, signed and dated AD
1643

One of four etchings of the Seasons, each
represented by a suitably clothed woman

The young woman is warmly dressed against the
cold. She wears a number of skirts, a fur collar, a hood, a mask,
and she carries a fur muff. She has gathered up her skirts as if to
protect them from muddy ground. The gesture carries a tacit erotic
message by revealing her lace-trimmed underskirt and dainty shoe.
This significance is emphasized by her bold gaze and made explicit
by the accompanying verse ('For a smoother skin at night /
Embraceth her with more
delight').

Hollar
had learned
etching
as a gentlemanly pursuit before, as a Protestant, having to leave
Catholic Prague when he was 20. For nine years he worked in various
German towns, mostly producing topographical prints and drawings.
In 1636 while in Cologne he joined the entourage of the earl of
Arundel, with whom he returned to England. In a career of some 50
years he produced almost 3,000 etchings on many subjects, normally
with the uncomplicated naturalism which makes them such valuable
documents of seventeenth-century life. Cornhill is shown in the
background of this print, with its coal fires burning, while the
tower of the first Royal Exchange is visible on the right.

Hollar's
virtuosity as an etcher is apparent from the variety of fabrics and
furs he captures in the woman's
garments.